NoOne Can Understand This Job
by In A Rush
Summary: Takes place after Season Three Episode 22.
1. Chapter 1

Another little one shot back on the island, maybe a two shot.

Apologies in advance for any typos

**Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Rush.**

…**.**

After having had such a long day that was draining mentally, physically and emotionally, Lawson could feel the relief roll off from everyone as they all got ready to head home, they were all relieved to hear that Michael was on the road to recovery, that his wound had been treated and that he would be back within a couple of weeks on light duties until he was cleared by the surgeon and physio to return to active duties.

As everyone started to leave, Lawson noticed that Shannon had been in a daydream sort of state since the island and that she seemed to be in a dark place which almost put others at risk and he had to put it in his report on what happened on the island and the shooting on Collins Street.

_**Flash Back.**_

"_Shannon, you alright?" he asked as she drove towards Collins Street at high speed._

"_Yeah, I'm fine." She said keeping her attention on the road ahead of her while tooting the horn at the people that wouldn't move out of the way, she hated driving through the city when they had an urgent job to attend to as traffic was such a pain to navigate through._

"_You seem to be in a really dark place." Lawson said._

"_It's just that island was such a creepy place, I'm fine though." She said._

"_You sure, you're not in too much pain from the boat?" he asked concerned._

"_I'm fine; I just want this day to be over." She said as he placed his hand on her leg, giving it a reassuring squeeze before removing it as she approached the scene of the road blocks._

"_It will be over soon." Lawson said as she placed the car into park and killed the engine._

"_So you hope." Shannon said before getting out of the car and heading towards the back gearing up just as TR 2 pulled up._

"_What have we got Leon?" Lawson asked._

"_All I have is a Caucasian male, appears to be in his 30's, approximately 170 cm's, wearing a dark green hoodie, dark blue jean, with a rifle just shooting randomly at people that are near him or are in his way, it all appears random, like some form of shooting rampage with no specific targets, so far there are 5 injured but nothing too serious, back up are trying to clear the street as much as possible, I've accessed street cams and am trying to find a match to his image in the database, but it could take some time." Leon said._

"_Do you know how far down he is from our location?" Lawson asked._

"_His approaching Spring Street, so you may want to hurry, he may be headed to Treasury Gardens or Fitzroy Gardens, if he hits Fitzroy Gardens, it's going to be difficult to locate him, it's almost like a mini jungle there with a thousand possible hiding spots." Leon said._

"_Alright Leon, get back up to set up road blocks to block access to both gardens, Josh, Stella and Christian will start finding covering positions at Fitzroy Gardens, his most likely to approach that over Treasury, and I will set up everything there, we will head over there in cars, it's going to give us a head start on him, Shannon will negotiate and trail him by foot with back up." Lawson said._

"_Copy that Lawson; I'll keep you posted if I get a name on the guy." Leon said._

"_Copy that." Josh said as they hopped back into TR2 and did a U-turn_

"_I think it would be better if you negotiated Lawson, after the island, I'm just not up to it mentally." Shannon said._

"_I'm sorry Shan, but no one else is up to negotiate with him ,and with one man down I can't afford Josh to take charge of this, I need to, so you need to try and get out of the headspace your in." Lawson said._

"_Well if this turns to shit, I did warn you." Shannon says before making her way on foot with two general duty officers trailing behind her as she started to jog down towards Spring Street._

_As Lawson set up the last bit of equipment, he noticed a guy enter the gardens as a teenage boy made his way over to the exit as back up were trying to clear the gardens as best they could, and before anyone could stop it, the man shot him in the stomach, making the boy topple over in pain._

_Just after that, Shannon entered with her gun raised and was followed by the two officers a few seconds behind her, appearing out of breath._

"_Stop following me." The guy yelled out turning around and pointing the gun at Shannon._

"_I can't do that sorry." Shannon said._

"_I'll shoot." He said._

"_I know you will, you have shot six people so far, but if you want to avoid getting shot yourself, you may want to co-operate with me, so you may want to tell me your name." Shannon said simply._

"_How about you tell me yours, then I might tell you mine." He said._

"_My name is Sargent Shannon Henry, how about you tell me your name?" She asked._

"_Matthew." He said._

"_Do you have a last name Matthew?" she asked._

"_No, you can get your team mates to find that out for you, I'm sure." He says._

"_Why are you shooting innocent people?" Shannon asked._

"_Because I've had a bad day." He said._

"_We all have bad days, I know I've had a shit day, but you don't see me going around on a shooting rampage in the city, so what happened to make you so angry?" she asked._

"_My girlfriend dumped me today, she humiliated me, I thought I would treat her to a great meal at the press club, made the booking 6 months ago because it's so hard to get in, and the half way through, when the waiter brings us our mains she dumps me then and there and just left on a tram that went past." Matthew said._

"_So that made you angry, angry enough to go shoot random people who had nothing to do with the break up?" Shannon asked._

"_Well yeah, you don't get to judge me okay, your just a cop that knows nothing about how hard life id." He yells getting agitated and starts firing at the officers taking cover behind Shannon, making them duck._

"_Okay just calm down, I know how hard life is, trust me I get it, what you don't think I have never been dumped before, or was brought up by mother who had to work two jobs to support me by herself, that I haven't had trouble in the past paying off debt, we all have problems but it doesn't give us the right to shoot innocent people." Shannon said._

"_Just leave me alone and stop talking to me otherwise I'll shoot you, I'm serious." Matthew said aiming the gun at her and stepping closer._

_Putting her gun back in its holster, she raises her hands in the air "Go for it, shoot me, try shooting the others again do whatever you want." She says while looking him straight in the eye._

"_You're not meant to say that." He says taken aback by her reaction._

"_What am I meant to say?" she asked._

"_I don't know, but you're not meant to tell me to shoot you, if you're doing reverse psychology it won't work." He said while Lawson and the team watched in horror as Shannon started to walk closer to him with her arms in the air._

"_I have a clear shot Lawson." Josh says._

"_Hold your position, we don't know what she is up to, but he hasn't taken a shot at her yet so just wait." Lawson said hesitantly._

"_I'm not doing reverse psychology, do it, you may cause me an injury, but I highly doubt you'll kill me, I'm wearing a bulletproof vest, and if you do shoot me, it's not like you aren't surrounded by people who will most definitely end up shooting you which may result in death, seriously I had a police officer try and do me in today, so I'm used to people wanting to cause me pain, so do it." She says looking him in the eye._

"_What will happen to me if I give myself up?" he asks._

"_I honestly don't know, it depends on a lot of things, between three to ten years maybe." She says before sitting down on the grass as she watches him think it over._

_Squatting down, he slowly puts the gun down on the ground and pushes it towards her._

"_I think you need more help than I do." He says._

"_I don't doubt that." She says as she watches the team run down to arrest him, as Josh started to go off his block at her for being so reckless and putting lives in danger, while Lawson saw in her eyes like she had given up on all hope._

…_._

"ESD, will want to talk to you tomorrow, Kerry said that because of the general duty officers we couldn't cover up your actions out there, Kerry thinks that you might just cop a slap on the wrist with some counselling sessions." Lawson says sitting down next to her and looking at her.

"I know what I did was wrong, but I warned you not to put me in that position." She said.

"I know, and I wish I could change that but I can't." he says.

"Let's just go home." She says putting on her scarf and stood up.

"Are you going to be okay?" He asks.

"I don't really know in all honesty, I just need some time, I just need to go home and leave this place." She said.

"Well let's go then." Lawson says pulling her up and walking out of base with her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for the overwhelming amount of reviews, because of this I've decided to add another chapter.**

**Let's see where my fingers take me shall we **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Rush.**

…**.**

**Three Days Later.**

"Shannon, are we going to have a breakthrough today?" Gabe asked as they entered the room.

"I don't know, depends on what we talk about." Shannon stated taking her shoes off and sitting down on the couch while tucking her legs underneath her.

"Shannon this is your third session since the incident, and I'm trying to get you back out there as quick as I can, you know that with theses frequent visits, but you know I won't let you back out there until you open up to me about what your keeping so secret about your home life." Gabe said.

"I already told you my home life has nothing to do with this, it's private and it's personal and I don't feel the need to discuss my home life with you, I'm here fulfilling the requirements to get back out there in the right head space." Shannon said angrily.

"I get that, but all I'm asking is for you to let me know if you have someone at home that really understands what you go through in your job, you get people to open up about what makes them tick and what goes on in their home life when your negotiating, so surely you can see why I need to." Gabe said.

"Look, this isn't getting me anywhere, if you're not going to let me back out there, I'll find someone who will." Shannon said getting up off the couch.

"Look Shannon, you're very closed off in any topic that is even close to personal, your all about work, it's not normal Shannon, and any other psychiatrist will tell you that." Gabe said.

"Well I'll test that theory out." Shannon said picking up her bag and heading to the door.

"Shannon, if you do change your mind, you know where to find me." Gabe said to Shannon's retreating back.

….

"How did your session go?" Kerry asked as Shannon walked into the Intel office.

"It didn't, I walked out." Shannon said sitting down behind her assigned desk and pulling out some extra paperwork that Kerry needed done.

"Why did you walk out, you know it's a requirement to get back out there." Kerry said.

"Yeah well I don't see how poking and prodding into my personal life is going to help me in any way." Shannon says.

"Shannon, you're the best we have when it comes to negotiators, Stella isn't that well trained for that, you should know, you've had to talk her through the steps yesterday during that hostage situation, we can't get anyone to replace you, hence why we have that buffoon of a Constable out there, you need to get this sorted Shannon." Kerry said frustrated.

"Look Kerry, I'm going to try another psychiatrist and see what they have to say." Shannon said as she started writing.

"You were sent by ESD to Gabe for a reason, they won't send you to someone else." Kerry said.

"It doesn't hurt to try." Shannon argued back as Leon tucked his head down and focused on a spot on his keyboard as the others walked ready for a debrief on a drug bust they were about to do.

"You coming back yet Shan?" Stella yelled out as she entered.

"Keep it down Stella, it's an office space, not a bloody nightclub." Kerry snapped.

"Shesh, sorry." Stella said raising her hands up in the air.

"No, the counsellor won't let me back out there until I give her what she wants which I don't see why she needs to know." Shannon said folding her arms over her chest.

"If she is asking you, it will help you in the long run, Gabe used to prod me about personal things, but I got back out there, you'll feel better for it, she does it for a reason." Josh says.

"I really don't care Josh." Shannon said.

"Maybe you should go pay Michael a visit, you haven't been yet." Lawson said.

"I have to work." Shannon said.

"It's a good idea, you should go see him Shannon, gets you out of paper work." Kerry says.

"Fine, I'll be back soon." Shannon says getting up and grabbing her car keys before walking out.

"Do you think she will come back soon?" Stella asks.

"With any luck, her visit to Michael might be what she needs." Josh says as they all look to the screen Leon has brought up with information for the drug bust.

…

"Hey Michael, you up for a visitor?" Shannon asked poking her head through the door.

"I thought you'd never come." He said from his chair next to his bed and waving his hand for her to come in.

"Sit." He says pointing to the chair opposite him.

"How are you going?" Shannon asked.

"Pretty good, what's taken you so long to visit?" he asked.

"It's nothing personal, I just haven't been in the right head space, Gabe and everyone else think that I need to see you to help me get back into the right head space." Shannon said.

"Yeah, I heard about how you told the guy to shoot you, are you crazy?" he asks.

"Yeah, I don't know what came over me, it was like being on that island flipped a switch on inside of me." She says.

"It was a pretty creepy island." He said while looking into her eyes and seeing that they had lost their spark.

"You know that I'm cool about you and Lawson." Michael said.

"Really?" She asks.

"Yeah, I get it, you have chemistry and it's hard to ignore, when you instantly click, you shouldn't let go of that, and the fact he can relate to how your feeling if you have a crappy day would help too." He said while taking a sip of water.

"Yeah I guess you're right." She says while processing what he was saying to what her and Lawson had discussed previously in the past.

"I'm happy for you guys, and I promise to keep my mouth shut." He says while smiling.

"Thanks', I appreciate that." She says.

"How's the counselling going anyway?" Michael asks.

"Shit, she wants to know about my personal life, I don't want to tell her about Lawson." She says while playing with her ring.

"You should, it will help, she's obviously asking for a reason, it's not like she can dob you in for being in a relationship with him, you're not breaking any rules and it's patient confidentiality which she can't break if that's what your worried about." He says.

"Your right, thanks for the chat, there's something I got to do, I promise I'll pop by for a proper visit soon, I just really need to do something first, if I'm not back before 5, then I'll be in tomorrow. "She says standing up.

"No worries, I'll see you later." He says as she gives him a hug.

"You will." She says while laughing as he pokes her in the side.

…

"Gabe, I'm ready if you are." Shannon says walking through the open doorway into the room.

"Take a seat Shannon." Gabe says looking as though she had been waiting for her to come back.


	3. Chapter 3

Most likely the last part to this little piece.

Thanks for the reviews and I hope you like this part, which does contain more Lawson.

**Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Rush.**

…**.**

**Previous Night.**

"_**Shannon, you need to open up to Gabe, you can't keep this shit all bottled up." Lawson says as he dries some cutlery while they wash the dishes.**_

"_**Lawson, she doesn't need to know about my personal life, she just needs to know what went on out there and why." Shannon says angrily as she puts the pot on the dish rack.**_

"_**She needs to know you have someone to talk to about it, someone at home who understands what you go through." He says calmly, as he tries to avoid another heated argument.**_

"_**It's not going to help overcome what went on out there now is it, so it's not important." Shannon says.**_

"_**Shannon, I get where you're coming from, I really do, but you can't keep doing this, shutting it all out, it won't work and I refuse to see you self-destruct." He says.**_

"_**Just drop it." Shannon yells as she smashes a plate in frustration.**_

"_**No I won't drop it." Lawson says unfazed by her smashing the plate in anger and remaining calm.**_

"_**Fine, you leave me no choice, its over." Shannon says heading out of the kitchen and grabbing her car keys with her bag and heading out the door.**_

"_**Where are you going, this is your house?" Lawson yells out to her retreating back.**_

"_**Away from here." She yells back.**_

"_**I'll still be here when you get back." He says from the doorway as she hops into the car.**_

….

"So you had a fight last night." Gabe says.

"Yeah, and he wasn't lying, he was still there when I pulled up later that night, or early hours of the morning." Shannon said.

"Did you sort it out then?" Gabe asks.

"No, I left as soon as I saw his car in the driveway and slept in my car at base." Shannon says.

"So are things really over between the two of you?" Gabe asks.

"No, he told me this morning he knew I was angry last night, that I was still angry with him, but he wasn't going anywhere just because I'm pissed off and say things to him I don't mean." She says.

"He must care about you a lot then, it's good you're in a relationship with him, being in a similar position as you in the role of negotiator, he would definitely understand what you go through day in and day out." Gabe says.

"Yeah, I guess it does help somewhat." Shannon says.

"And it means he doesn't give you an opportunity to hide from things you might do if it was someone else who didn't know what you were feeling." Gabe says.

"Yeah." Shannon says as she looks back at Gabe.

"I'm not going to report your relationship, I think it's a positive thing, for the both of you to have each other and it doesn't affect how you work together, but Shannon you need to start to realise you're not alone anymore, you have someone at home who you can talk to at any time about anything without having to worry about whether they understand or not, so do yourself a favour and open up to him a bit more, before you do push him away and jeopardise your relationship, because you deserve some happiness and someone who loves you." Gabe says watching Shannon who has started playing with her rings.

"I guess me to need to realise that." Shannon says.

"I'd still like to see you once a week for the next couple of months, but I'm going to clear you for work." Gabe says filling out the clearance form.

"Really?" Shannon asks dumbfounded.

"Yes, you've made some real progress, and while you do have a bit more work to do with me, I'm confident that there won't be another slip up." Gabe says handing the form over to her which she reads over.

"Thanks' so much Gabe." Shannon says getting up to leave.

"Your more than welcome Shannon, but make sure you apologise to Lawson." She says as Shannon heads towards the door.

"Oh trust me I will." Shannon says with a smile as she walks out.

….

Heading back to base, Shannon realises the team would have finished up for the day, so she quickly parks the car, gets out and walks into the change rooms.

"Hey Shannon, how did your visit with Michael go?" Josh asks as Shannon opens her locker to get a couple of things.

"Productive, I visited Gabe afterwards and I got the all clear, I still have to see her once a week, but I'm back." Shannon says with a smile as everyone gives her a high five or a pat on the back.

"Well we are going to the hospital, you want to join us?" Stella asks.

"Ahh, not tonight, I need to speak to Kerry and hand her this letter." Shannon says.

"Always tomorrow." Stella says as Shannon heads out to see Kerry.

"You coming Lawson?" Christian asks as he heads out.

"Nah, I've got something else I need to take care of." Lawson says as a smirk appears on Christians face.

"Have fun with that, see you tomorrow." Christian says walking out the door.

….

After having spoken to Kerry, Shannon is surprised to see Lawson still in the change rooms.

"Hey." Lawson says with a small smile.

"Hey." She returns with a bigger smile.

"Congratulations on getting clearance." Lawson says.

"Thanks." Shannon says as she grabs his hand and pulls him towards the shower room where she pushes him against the wall and plants a passionate kiss on him.

Moaning into it, Lawson pulls her in closer as he runs his hand up her back to tangle into her hair while the other one stays firmly wrapped around her waist.

Pulling away, Shannon rests her head into the crook of his neck as he wraps his arms even tighter around her and breathes in her scent.

"God I've missed you." Lawson mutters into her hair with his eyes closed.

"I've missed you too, I'm really sorry for being such a bitch to you these past couple of days." She says.

"We are always going to have our ups and downs Shan, but I will never leave you or let you leave me when we have a fight, you're stuck with me and that's never going to change, I love you too much to let you go." He says rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"I'm so glad you love me enough to put up with me." She says.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." He says pulling away slightly to look at her.

"I love you so much Lawson." She says kissing him with as much love as she could put into the kiss.

"I love you even more." He says into her lips as they stop kissing.

"Take me home so we can have some hot make up sex?" she says enquiringly as she raises her eyebrows at him.

"Definitely." He says playfully slapping her arse before chasing her out to the car park.


End file.
